Generally, cooking appliances may include electric appliances for cooking in a house or a building, using electricity or other energies (e.g., gas). Examples of such cooking appliances using gas as a heat source include gas stoves, gas ovens and gas oven ranges. Examples of the cooking appliances using electricity as the heat source include induction ranges and microwave ovens. Combined types of cooking appliances include induction ranges using electricity and gas ovens using gas.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate an example cooking appliance. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the example cooking appliance 1 includes a cabinet 2, a top plate 3 disposed on the cabinet 2 and having one or more ignition units 3′, a cooker stand 4 arranged on the top plate 3, a door 7 coupled to a front of the cabinet 2 and having a handle 9 for opening and closing a cooking chamber and a transparent member 8 (e.g., glass) provided in a center thereof, and a control panel 5 provided at a front portion of the cabinet 2 and having one or more manipulation units 6 arranged above the door 7.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the control panel 5 has been coupled to the top plate 3 by a plurality of bolts and the top plate 3 has to be coupled to an upper portion of the cabinet 2 by a plurality of bolts to fixedly secure the control panel 5 thereto. Accordingly, the coupling process of the control panel 5 may be difficult. The plurality of the bolts used for the top plate 3 and the control panel 5 have to be unfastened for maintenance of the control panel 5 and/or the manipulation units 6, which may be disadvantageous.
Moreover, a front portion of the top plate 3 is disposed over the control panel 5. Specifically, the top plate 3 is disposed on the cabinet 2 with a lower surface of the front portion in contact with a top surface of the control panel 5.
Because the top plate 3 is typically formed of a metallic material, heat may be conducted to an entire area of the top plate 3 from the one or more ignition units 3′. Accordingly, when a user cooks, using the one or more ignition units 3′, the temperature of the top plate 3 may rise. As a consequence, the heat might be conducted from the high-temperature top plate 3 to the control panel 5 in contact with the lower surface of the front portion of the top plate 3. When heat transfers from the top plate 3 to the control panel 5 and the user tries to manipulate the manipulation unit 6 of the control panel 5, the user's hand may touch the control panel 5 and get burned. In addition, the control panel 5 is disposed under the front portion of the top plate 3 and the user's hand might touch the top plate 3 and burned when the user tries to manipulate the manipulation unit 6.
FIG. 1C partially illustrates another example cooking appliance. Referring to FIG. 1V, the control panel 5 includes a stepped portion 5′ projected toward the top plate 3.
At this time, the cooker stand 4 has at least predetermined portion disposed on the stepped portion 5′. With this structure, heat may be conducted to the control panel 5 from the one or more ignition units 3′ through the cooker stand 4 and the temperature of the control panel 5 may rise. Accordingly, when a user tries to manipulate the manipulation unit 6 of the control panel 5, the user's hand may touch the control panel 5 and get burned.
Also, a fluid material such as a liquid flowing over the cooker may permeate between the control panel 5 and the top plate 3. The liquid permeated between the control panel 5 and the top plate 3 might flow along a gas line or a gas valve connected between the manipulation unit 6 of the control panel 5 and the one or more ignition units 3′ of the top plate 3, which may cause an error of the manipulation unit 6.